Recuperator structure



y 11934. w. A. MORTON 1,958,200

RECUPERATOR STRUCTURE Original Filed Sept. 15, 1928 Patented May 8, 1934 1,958,200 RECUPERATOR STRUCTURE William A. Morton, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Amco, Incorporated, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original application September 15, 1928, Serial No. 306,269. Divided and this application July 23, 1931, Serial No. 552,665

Claims. (Cl. 263) This application is a division of an application perator taken along the lines IlIIII and IV-IV bearing Serial Number 306,269, filed September of Figure 2. 15, 1928 now Patent Number 1,812,975, and relates Referring to Figure 2 of the drawing, the structo improvements in recuperator, structures such ture therein illustrated comprises a glass melting as are adapted for use in glass melting furnaces furnace generally designated at 1, having a subor the like, stantially fiat bottom hearth 2 at the batch feeder It is among the objects of the invention to proend and having a gradually tapering portion 3 exvide a recuperator structure for glass melting tending to the glass feeder end 40f the furnace. furnaces which shall be adapted for regulation of A heat retaining wall 5 is disposed transversely W the applied heat to the glass batch in a manner of the furnace chamber near the feeder end, as to heat the body of the material to the most efliis common practice in the art, and a series of fuel cient and desirable temperatures in different secburner ports 6 are disposed in the side walls 7 of tions of the furnace. the chamber in which combustion takes place.

Another object of the invention is to provide an The waste gases or products'of combustion from improved form of heat regulating means for glass the ports 6 pass through the waste flue 8 to the melting furnace operation. recuperator generally designated at 9.

Still another object of the invention is to pro- I he batch feeding end of the furnace comprises vide means for directing the fuel stream in the a hopp r 10 h vin a f s r w nvey r me hfurnace chamber in a direction opposed to the anism 11 for feeding raw materials into the chargglass stream flow whereby certain detrimental ing end of the furnace and the material may be features of glass melting are eliminated, continuously or intermittently fed into the fur- In glass melting furnaces as heretofore connace chamber. structed and operated, the furnace chamber was Since it is desirable to maintain a maximum of designed to maintain a constant pool depth of heat at the charging end of the furnace, a heavy 25 the molten glass through the employment of a Wall Of insulation 12 y be p vided as shown fiat bottom hearth and the material was fed in and the recup rat ports 8 rt waste ases from the batch feeder and passed through the V n the furnace Chamber are diSpQSed in heating portion of the chamber which was located pa tio from the charging end of the furcentrally of t furnace structure nace for a purpose to be hereinafter explained.

39 In accordance with the present invention I em- T e recuperator ports 8 direct the waste gases ploy a furnace in which the hearth is substanor products of combustion to the checker work tially fiat at the batch feeding end and gradually p e t g air for the burners. The checktapers upwardly in the direction of the glas diserwork comprises a tile structure 13 forming loncharge end of the furnace to accelerate the glass gitudinal passages f r he waste gas s, and ver- 35 now. tical fiues or passages for the air, the entrance of I also provide for regulation of the heat in the which is through ports 14 regulated by adjustdiflerent portions of the furnace by regulating able dampers 15 as Y infigm the burners; which I accomplish by the utilization The recuperator is divided into separate chambers by transverse partition members 16 and a of se arate air assa es in the recu erator, which passages are a apteg to be indepe iidently re partition wall 16a extending longitudinally of the Iated checkerwork structure so that the amount of air The general arrangement and function of my 39 53 $52 1? g fif g i gggi g 2 33 improved glass melting furnace will be more clear- 1V1 7 1 q y of preheated air for the burners 1'7 WhlCh are (115-- ly understood in connection with a description of posed in the burner ports 6 and controlled by g F P ZK E S Y Z g igg z i t f valves 17a. The waste gases passing through "4 m W m 1 re c c e S 31g the checker work in the manner indicated by arnate like parts, a d Winch; rows will ultimately pass out the waste stack Figure 1 1s longltudmfu f of flues or passages 18 leading to the stack 19. 50 furnace chamber embodying the principles 01 Referri g to Figure 1 of t d i th this invention; burners 1'7 are disposed at an angle projecting in Figure 2 Vertical Sectional View Of a furnace the direction parallel with the flow of material fed structure as shown in Figure 1 and of a recuperainto the furnace but opposed thereto for a purtor with which it is associated; and, pose to be hereinafter explained. I 55 Figures 3 and 4 are sectional views of the recu- The function and operation of the furnace disclosed is briefly as follows: The raw materials are fed from the hopper 10 through the feeder 11 into the furnace chamber in such quantities that a predetermined level of molten material is maintained in the chamber, this level being above the opening through fire wall 5 which divides the chamber into heat zones, and the level of material is slightly below the burner ports 6 so that the heat of combustion from the burner 17 will be of greatest intensity on the surface of the mass. With the disposition of the waste ports 8 remote from the charging end of the furnace and leading to the recuperator, the waste gases do-not come in contact with the raw dusty materials, and by so removing the waste gases from the batch feeding entrance, the raw dusty materials have an opportunity to glaze before entering into the path of the several flame streams from the burners.

In the angular disposition of the burner ports the movement of the waste gases is opposed to the glass stream flow whereby the lighter glass constituents are retarded in their forward flow in their first stage of ebullition or chemical activity. This feature is considered to be a very beneficial and distinct advance in the art.

By means of the regulation of heat intensity at the respective burner ports through the damper elements 15 and the segregated preheating air chambers of the recuperator, it s possible to regulate each successive port or i ing zone in the furnace chamber so that the temperature may be accelerated towards the discharge end of the furnace where the glass depth is decreased on account of the inclined hearth 3, for the purpose of subjecting the whole depth of the glass mass to more nearly uniform temperature and consequently reduced to greatly diminished and 'nearly the same viscosity, whereby any submerged formative gas bubbles are forced to move to a zone of intensively higher temperatures so that they may readily rise to the surface to be released. Where such formative gas bubbles are included in a glass mass due to greater viscosity of the mass at the discharge end of the furnace, the product of the furnace becomes defective. The degree of inclination of the furnace hearth and the depth of chamber will vary somewhat with the kinds and color of glass to be melted.

By utilizing two waste gas ports 8, one on each side of the melting chamber the waste gases may be drawn through either or both ports by means of dampers 8a, and the longitudinal partition wall permits of directing the waste gases inregulated volumes for either or both rows of side burner ports 6.

In this manner, positive control of temperatures may be obtained for practically any given area of the glass surface in the tank to provide maximum capacity of the glass melting tank.

By means of the separate heat control of the burners it is possible to obtain acceleratively higher temperatures towards the area of increased stream flow of the molten glass. I also insulate the batch feeder end of the furnace with top and wall sections of extra thickness, to retain the heat of the lower temperature waste gases flowing into the recuperator ports. The glass retaining walls of the furnace may be insulated with a high refractory material such as Silocel or other infusorial earth of low heat conductivity, to prevent excessive radiation losses in the zone of highest temperatures.

The glass feeder end of the furnace is of the conventional extended form with submerged discharge outlet by which the glass is removed from the furnace and flow through the furnace is effected.

It is evident from the foregoing description of this invention that by employing the type of glass melting furnace therein described, I maintain constant fuel flow to a constant stream flow with constant uniform temperature in any cross-sectional area through the tank and that the material flowing through the tank is capable of longitudinal acceleration at will to increase the rate of formation and refining of the forming solution. With the apparatus and method of operation described, I am able to maintain uniformity of quality in the product of the furnace.

Although an embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

I claim:

1. In a recuperator for delivering preheated air to the burner ports of a melting chamber, the combination of a checkerwork tile structure forming a series of vertical and horizontal flues in heat-exchange relation, end chambers for said vertical flues having partitioning means dividing said chambers in groups and having passages communicating with the burner ports of said melting chamber, and said horizontal flues having their ends in communication with each other, separate air inlet and outlet passages for said divided chambers, and means for regulating the volume of air passing through said chambers to the individual ports to control the temperature in different portions of said melting chamber.

2. In a recuperator for delivering preheated air to the burner ports of a melting chamber, the combination of a checkerwork tile structure comprising a series of vertical and horizontal flues in heat exchange relation, a waste gas passage communicating with said horizontal flues, partition members dividing said vertical flues in groups, air inlet and outlet passages for the several groups, each group having an air passage to a burner port within the melting chamber and regulable dampers controlling the flow of air through the flues of said groups to their respective ports.

3. In a recuperator for delivering preheated air to the burner ports of a melting chamber, the combination of a checkerwork tile structure comprising a. series of air and waste gas flues in heat-exchange relation, a partition wall dividing said structure, transverse partition walls subdividing said tile structure in groups on both sides of said first named partition, each of said groups communicating with the burner ports on the respective sides of said melting chamber, a waste gas passage leading from said melting chamber to said waste gas flues, and air inlet and outlet passages for the several subdivided groups of air flues.

4. In a recuperator for delivering preheated air to the burner ports of a melting chamber, the combination of a checkerwork tile structure comprising a series of air and waste gas fiues in heatexchange relation, partitioning means dividing said flues into two groups, additional partitioning means subdividing the flues of each group, each of said groups having a passage communicating with a burner port of said melting chamber, regulable means controlling the flow of gases through each of said two groups, and regulable air inlet passages for the subdivided groups o top and bottom of the vertical air passages, the top chambers of which having passages communicating with the burner ports of said melting chamber, and dampers controlling the ingress and egress of air to and from said chambers to regulate the volume of preheated air delivered to the respective burner ports.

WILLIAM A. MORTON. 

